22/3/09

A dull morning for a drive across the Plateaux but the cloud-covered sky meant there were plenty of antilope to see, of several varieties, as we passed through the nearby animal reserve. We arrived in Yia in time for the service but the little church building was empty – though in fairness the sand had been swept so evidently someone was planning to come and a young boy quickly appeared. As we arrived a heavy rain storm broke, but it was thankfully short and as it died away an older woman then a young man (the leader) arrived, followed later by another boy. That was the total congregation for today. The Yia annexe has never really thrived but it has certainly seen better days. It tears my heart and it's a real problem to work out how to support this and other outlying villages where just about all of the few attendees are baby Christians at best, most don't read at all and those that do certainly don't have the level needed to really wrestle with the Bible in French and besides which they have received no training, formal or otherwise, in how to teach, preach or even deal with the practical aspects of running a church group.